


Starry Starry Night, A

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-12-08
Updated: 2000-12-08
Packaged: 2019-05-15 19:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Josh and Donna talk things out.





	Starry Starry Night, A

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

A Starry, Starry Night

By: Elizabeth Bennet

Rating: G

Notes: Warning! This is a completely sappy little vignette that I came up with after watching the Patriot in which virtually everyone dies, hence I was feeling a little depressed. You should listen to Saint-Saens' "The Swan" while you read this, if at all possible. It also helps to be very sentimental and to cry easily.

Dedicated: To all my dear friends.

Disclaimer: Josh and Donna belong to Aaron Sorkin, Warner Bros., N.B.C., and probably some other people. No money whatsoever is being made in their use.

Archive: Please ask my permission, but I am VERY likely to grant it to you!

Feedback: Yes Please! . I would appreciate it greatly!

 

And Now... A Starry Starry Night (ta da!)

Inside, soft classical music was being played by a live quartet... Saint-Saens' "The Swan". The night was chilly, and in her sleeveless gown she shivered, pulling her wrap more tightly around her shoulders. She clutched the sparkling glass of champagne as if for dear life, and, leaning against the railing of the terrace, gazed into the remarkably clear night sky. Not being greatly educated about such things, she could only pick out the big dipper and Orion, the hunter, but Josh would have known.

He had been perfectly nice to her all day--but that was the problem. Ever since she had met him, all that had transpired between them amounted only to a relationship between two friends, and nothing more. He had joked with her when she adjusted his tie in his office just before the dance, and he had caught her eye across the room several times--in between dancing with C.J. and flirting with some young, petite redhead. She had always wanted to believe that there was a bond between them deeper than the bond of boss and assistant, or even the bond of two best friends. But now, after watching him closely, she was ready to admit that perhaps she was wrong.

A comfortingly bittersweet sadness enveloped her. She felt pinpricks at the corners of her eyes, and drawing the champagne glass from her lips, felt a single tear slowly trace a glistening track down her cheek.

"Donna?" his voice was soft. "Are you okay?"

He was walking out of the French doors of the ballroom. She turned, resting her back against the railing, and swept the tear from her cheek. "I'm fine."

He looked worried. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "Really, Josh, I'm fine. It's nothing."

"I hope not. It should be something. Everything in the universe is something, contrary to what you may believe. It's called matter." She didn't even smile at his attempt at banter, but instead looked more pained. He was worried. She had been distant lately, and he didn't know why. After the shooting they had gotten very close, and he had thought that maybe they might someday have a relationship together, but now...

"It's not important. It's just...there's this guy."

His ears pricked up, constantly alert to anyone who might be causing her sadness. If he was in politics, Josh could make his life a living nightmare, and if not, well, Josh had more than one trick up his sleeve.

She sighed and turned, and he came to lean on the railing beside her. She was gazing at the stars.

"What did this guy do?"

"Nothing. We never even had a relationship. I was foolish to think that we could be more than just friends...after all ,this guy doesn't exactly have a great history with women and I'm don't have high hopes for his perceptiveness when it comes to my feelings...but I'd hoped, I'd just hoped, that it could be more."

Josh felt her sadness, and saw another tear run down her other cheek. The two looked into the sky, together but apart. Josh was mentally hoping that 'this guy' would die a horrible death. Donna, on the other hand, was busy resigning herself to a future that she didn't want. It was Donna who broke the silence.

"Do you think there's anything out there, Josh?"

"Out where?"

"Out there." she replied, gesturing towards the heavens. The black expanse was sprinkled with shining speckles that twinkled and blurred in Donna's tear-filles eyes.

"Like...aliens?"

"No, Josh." she sounded a little exasperated, "I'm not talking about other planets or other life forms. I'm saying...is there anything out there? Because I don't feel like there's anything in here." she gestured at her heart.

Josh was taken aback. "Well, Donna..."

"Is love out there Josh? Or self-worth, or a purpose or a meaning to life? I had a purpose for awhile, and now it's gone, and I feel empty."

"What was your purpose?"

"It was you."

"It was me?"

"Yes. I kept you going, as an assistant, and then, after you got shot, my purpose was to make sure you lived. But now, you're better, and you don't need me anymore, and--you're the guy, Josh."

Josh gasped. "I'm the guy?"

"Yes. After the shooting, I wanted to get close to you, but I couldn't. I decided to wait. But now...you just don't need me anymore, you don't need me to do anything but keep your schedule straight. We're friends, Josh, and it's obvious you don't need me to be anything but your friend."

Josh's head swam. And he realized something. He remembered losing Joanie, and how he'd felt. It had been different from when he'd lost his father or friends...it had been a deep ache in his heart. Joanie had been his sister, and he felt that if he ever lost Donna the ache in his heart would go even deeper and be more intense, because Donna wasn't like a sister, or a friend. She was something more.

Donna had looked away, so that Josh couldn't see the utterly dejected look on her face. She was startled out her thoughts by his voice."

"You're wrong."

"What?"

"I said, you're wrong. I do need you. I need you more than anyone else, and more than I've ever realized."

"Oh, Josh."

"Donna, I love you."

"I love you too."

Just then the quartet started a new piece of music. Josh held out his arms to Donna, who fell into them. They started dancing. They had danced before, but never like this. They moved as one, keeping each other warm and radiating warmth into the cold night. Above them, the stars shone brightly, glad that on the earth two people had found that there was something out there.

Josh realized what the quartet was playing. It was the music to ŒAve Maria.' He drew Donna closer to him, their cheeks touching, their tears intermingling. The dance seemed to last not for just a few minutes, but forever. When the last strains finally died away, the two moved apart, just a little. They gazed into each other's watery eyes and then looked to the heavens. Together.

Fin.

  

  


End file.
